This project examines the biomechanical effects of head and neck surgical procedures on swallowing function and on the patient's ability to exert voluntary control over specific aspects of the swallow. A biomechanical analysis will enable us to define the changes in muscle pull created by head and neck surgical procedures and to develop more effective swallow interventions, including surgical reconstruction. Videofluoroscopic swallowing studies of normal subjects and specific groups of surgically treated head and neck cancer patients, collected 3 points in time post surgery, will be quantified biomechanically to identify the ways in which these surgical procedures affect movement patterns of structures in the pharynx during swallow and the patient's ability to produce voluntary swallow rehabilitation maneuvers, as compared to normal subjects. This project utilizes a computerized biomechanical analysis process for the oropharyngeal swallow developed specifically for this purpose. This biomechanical analysis system provides important information on the ways in which structural movements relate to one another and to bolus movement during the physiology of normal oropharyngeal deglutition.